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Johnny Enclave (Animated Series)
Johnny Enclave is a series of animated shorts produced by the Enclave between 2201 and 2240. The series, while intended as children’s entertainment, was heavily laden with Enclave propaganda aimed at indoctrinating children into their beliefs and values while ensuring that the outside world would be seen as a dangerous place filled with subhumans not fit to survive. Premise Johnny Enclave features the adventures of the titular character, a young man who has been raised within the Enclave as a “model heir to the United States”. Johnny has adventures in the wastelands where he encounters their denizens, all of which are hostile towards him. Despite often being alone, Johnny is able to outwit and overpower his adversaries through a combination of his wits, determination, skill and belief in “good old fashioned American values.” The show extolled the idea that the wastelands belonged to the Enclave, and that those living in it were little more than subhuman mutants who were entirely without redeeming features. The idea that the Enclave would exterminate them and reclaim the wastelands for America was held up as being a virtuous ideal, presenting genocide as being not only acceptable, but ultimately good for the entire human race. By cleansing the wastelands of mutants, Johnny (and thus the Enclave as a whole) would be ultimately ‘improving’ mankind by ensuring that only the ‘pure’ survived. While Johnny himself extoled what the Enclave saw as desirable values, he also was not above using technology to aid him in his adventures. This was presented as being a positive trait; Johnny was calling on the powers of “American ingenuity, known how and technological might” in order to aid him in his quest, and such were shown in an entirely positive light. In many cases, Johnny would be showcasing Enclave technologies, such as using P94 Plasma Rifles or X-01 Power Armor. By comparison, his opponents were often shown as being backwards, failing to understand technology or even hating it for a variety of reasons. Cast of Characters Johnny Enclave The titular hero of the show, Johnny Enclave is a “brave young lad” who has been raised as a model citizen with the goal of reclaiming America and making it great again. He is brave, upstanding, loyal, honest hearted and generally presented as a positive role model. However, he is also not above using trickery to outwit his opponents where needed, but again, this behaviour is shown in a positive light as being entirely acceptable in order to preserve the American way of life. Johnny is modelled on the Vault Boy character used in pre-war Vault-Tec advertising and educational videos. However, his attire sported Enclave colors and logos. Jenny Enclave Jonny’s sister, Jenny Enclave accompanies him on many of his adventures. She is by and large identical to her brother in terms of character, and often simply serves to reinforce the Enclave’s messages. General Sam The commander of an Enclave outpost in the Wastelands, General Sam is a commander in the Enclave’s army. While a military officer, he is also presented as being a kind, almost fatherly figure to Jonny and Jenny. His role in the show is to ensure that the Enclave’s army are depicted in a positive light as a force for good, protecting the people from the dangers of the Wasteland. He also helps showcase various Enclave technologies, again painting them as being positive and useful tools. The Tribals The most frequent antagonists in the series are Tommy, Timmy and Tammy Tribal, simply known as the Tribals. They are depicted as being backwards, stupid, uneducated, cruel, vindictive and entirely without redeeming traits. The Tribals live in the wastelands in the ruins of the old world. They produce nothing of value and are simply lazy and take what they want from the ruins or “good people” like the Enclave. The Tribals are depicted as being too stupid to understand technology, and often destroy it out of frustration. The Tribals were depicted as being hunchbacked, slope-shouldered, knuckle-dragging savages, covered in filth and wearing tattered clothing. Despite being female, Tammy was played by a male voice actor as an effort to make her seem even more repulsive. The Ghoul Gang As their name suggests, the Ghoul Gang were a trio of Ghouls, Skumm, Rash and Fester who dressed like pre-war Greasers. The Ghoul Gang were presented not only as criminals who stole from others and enjoyed bullying and tormenting the weak, but also as being cannibals. Their primary interest in Johnny (and Jenny) came about from the idea that since they were so ‘pure’, they would also be delicious. The intent was to convey a message that all ghouls are dangerous, and that life would be better without them. Ghoulzelda Another Ghoul, Ghoulzelda was presented as being a witch who brewed potions and other concoctions in her cauldron filled with radioactive sludge. While she claimed that her potions would give their users great powers, she was in fact a charlatan and her potions were ultimately detrimental to their users. In this case, the goal was to debunk Tribal beliefs, while also emphasising the message that proper science would triumph over silly superstition. Like the Ghoul Gang, she was also depicted as being a cannibal who particularly liked the taste of children. Her design suggested a traditional witch, complete with black dress and pointy hat. King Con Carne The leader of Great Carnies, the ‘biggest raider gang in the wastelands’, King Con Carne was a frequent adversary for Johnny Enclave. King Con Carne was depicted as being a loudmouth bully who was completely undeserving of his rank, and lead through intimidation of his underlings. He also was depicted as being superstitious and unable to understand even the most simple of technology, which made him easily outwitted by Johnny Enclave. King Con Carne was depicted with an oversized torso and arms, tiny legs and dressed in scraps of leather armor. The Great Carnies themselves were depicted as backwards savages, much in the vein of the Tribals. They were stupid, dull-witted and took whatever they wanted from good people. They were also depicted as being prone to in-fighting, with members of the gang constantly trying to backstab King Corn Carne and take his throne, regardless of how stupid doing such might seem. Kim Chop-Chop A Chinese spy and Communist, Kim Chop-Chop’s role in the show was to encourage vigilance while also discouraging engagement with the outside world. Kim Chop-Chop was constantly trying to undermine the hard work of good people like Jonny by taking all that he had earned and redistributing it to lazy good-for-nothings so that everyone would be equal. Kim constantly called everyone ‘Comrade’, including reporting to his superior ‘Comrade Great Leader Number One’ (a mysterious figure who only communicated by telephone) who was ‘more equal’ then anyone else. Kim Chop-Chop was depicted as a grotesque Asian caricature, complete with squinty eyes and prominent buck teeth. Jimmy Vault The distant cousin of Johnny Enclave, Jimmy Vault comes from Vault 31 in the wastelands. Jimmy is presented as being good natured and well-intentioned, but also naive and somewhat foolhardy. As a result, he is constantly getting into trouble and needs to be rescued by Johnny Enclave. Sir Buckethead Sir Buckethead calls himself a "knight" and roams the Wasteland in a suit of vintage Power Armor. While he claims that he is a noble warrior who helps the poor and weak, in truth he is grandstanding and egotistical, more concerned with looking good than actually helping anyone. Likewise, he barely understands how his Power Armor works, and in many ways is depicted as being a backwards savage like the Tribals. Besides being generally adversarial to Johnny (who is smart enough not to fall for his claims), in his last appearance Sir Buckethead tried to steal Johnny's X-01 Power Armor. Deathclaws Donny Deathclaw was a sometimes adversary of Johnny Enclave who was meant to represent the perils of life in the Wasteland. While depicted as a vicious, ravenous predator who would eat anything, Donny Deathclaw was also capable of speaking, even if only for comedic effect. Donny Deathclaw was Johnny's adversary in two different shorts; in the latter, he was accompanied by Dizzy Deathclaw, who was identical save for having lipstick. He also appeared in a number of other episodes as a random hazard to attack the unwary. Hoo-Flung Dung Hoo-Flung Dung was a scientist working for the mysterious Shoo, a supposedly scientifically advanced group. Hoo-Flung Dung sought to steal advanced technology in order to study it. In truth, a lot of his "scientific miracles" were a combination of pre-war technology and literal smoke and mirrors, and only good enough to impress tribals. He appeared in only the second-last short, Wonton Violence. ''Hoo-Flung Dung's design was actually based on Kim Chop-Chop's, only with the addition of a lab coat. Bugsy Baloni Bugsy Baloni was a mob boss in the city of New Dungheap. He rules over the city and gets rich off taking whatever he wants from others, embodying corruption and greed. However, he is also rather stupid, oafish and gullible, and was easily outwitted by Jonny Enclave in their sole clash. Bugsy was depicted as being a heavyset man with broad shoulders, tiny legs and a prominent chin, wearing a pinstripe suit and hat. His design somewhat resembles a redressed version of King Con Carne. Bugsy Baloni only appeared in a single short, ''Bugsy Bugs Out. As this short was the last one completed, he has the dubious distinction of being the series’ final antagonist. Production The origin of Johnny Enclave lies with a series of sketches done by Joe Tubberman, an animator working in the Enclave’s Propaganda Film department. These depicted a blond-haired boy fighting mutants, ghouls and other foes in a very cartoonish style that served to make those threats depicted more comical than dangerous. These sketches were discovered by Sal Monella, a director in the propaganda department. He took them to the studio heads as a pitch for a new series of instructional films, claiming that they were his own work. The department liked the pitch and approved production of the first short, Johnny’s Big Adventure, in April 2201. Monella was given full credit as the creator and director. Tubberman worked on the short as an animator, but received no credit beyond that. The short, which depicted Jonny fighting against a group of Tribals, was well-received, and quickly became popular with the audience. Seeing an opportunity, the Department of Propaganda approved production of further shorts, aimed at reinforcing the Enclave’s messages while also depicting the inhabitants of the Wasteland as backwards, primitive and dangerous. Monella immediately went to work on adapting Tubberman’s other sketches as characters, again not giving him any credit at all. The second short, Teen Ghoul Squad, debuted in July 2201, and introduced both the Ghoul Gang and Johnny’s sister, Jenny Enclave. Further shorts followed, with Monella keeping up an impressive rate of production through working his studio hard in a high-pressure environment. Once he had burned through all of Tubberman’s ideas, Monella took to taking suggestions and concepts from his animators. As allways, he took all the credit for their work. In all, 45 shorts were produced under the direction of Monella before his death in 2233. A high rate of production was maintained by liberally stealing scenes and even whole plots from previous episodes where needed. For example, King Con Carnage (2230) was an almost world-for-word rehash of Tribal Troubles (2217), with the only real difference being the antagonists. None the less, Monella maintained a high degree of production quality among his staff, ensuring that each short would be well-animated and precisely timed. Following Monella’s death, the Department of Propaganda turned the series over to Lou Capp, an assistant director who had worked under Monella for all his career. He produced another seven shorts between 2234 and 2240, but these were broadly considered to be inferior to those produced under Monella. Not only did the animation quality drop, but the episodes themselves were not as well written and they often would overly labor a scene in order to fill in time. Capp also introduced several new characters, none of which were ever as popular as those created under Monella. In 2241, the decision was made to cancel the series, feeling that it had gone on long enough and that the most recent shorts had become rather dry and lacking. The final short, Bugsy Bugs Out, was released in March of that year. Another one, Deathclaw a-go-go was in development, but was shelved. Production Staff Sal Monella The creator of the Johnny Enclave series, Sal Monella had built a career out of getting by on other people’s efforts. Born in 2161 on board the Presidential Oil Rig, Sal showed a surprising amount of talent at an early age, and was recruited by the Enclave’s Department of Propaganda so that he could put his talents to work. Early on he demonstrated an aptitude for stealing the work of others an then repackaging it as his own, ensuring that he would get all the credit. A consummate politician, Sal was skilled at getting his own way through playing off others. While Sal had worked on a number of films in his career, ranging from safety shots to pseudo-historical documentaries, Johnny Enclave would prove to be his career-defining work. Between the launch of the series in 2201 and his death in 2243, he directed every single short and was the head writer on most of them. He ran his studio in a heavy-handed, demanding manner, forcing his staff to work long hours to strict quotas. He constantly drilled his staff for their own ideas, simply so he could exploit them for himself. However, his public persona was considerably different, playing himself as an enthusiastic creator who simply loved cartooning. Sal died of a heart attack in 2233 while taking a break between productions. He left behind a legacy of crushed dreams, stolen ideas, brutalised animators, disputes over creator-ownership and a not inconsiderable amount of gay pornography that he had drawn over the decades. Joe Tubberman Born in 2178, Joe Tubberman was hired at a young age as a junior animator by the Enclave's Department of Propaganda. Early in his career he showed a combination of talent, creativity and enthusiasm that drew attention from his superiors. Tubberman found his career on a fast-track as he was promoted to take part in more important programs, quickly graduating from simple safety instructional films (Such as FEV and You) to propaganda films. His first major work was on ''Making America Human Again, ''a feature-length animated epic about the Enclave reclaiming the Wastelands from barbarians that effectively served as a justification to planned genocide. It was during this time that he came into contact with Sal Monella, who took an interest in his work. Monella saw a lot of potential in Tubberman and his creations, mainly with regards to furthering his own career. After Monella appropriated Johnny Enclave and tried to present it as his own creation, Tubberman challenged him. Monella claimed that he was merely using his position to ensure that Tubberman, who was still relatively junior, would get the due credit for his creation. Tubberman would work on a number of the early Johnny Enclave shorts, but never was credited as anything more than a 'lead animator'. Eventually, Monella had him moved off the team in order to ensure that there was no dispute over his claims to the character. While Tubberman would work in the Department of Propaganda for the rest of his life, he would eventually become embittered over his treatment and the theft of his creations. He was killed in the destruction of the Enclave's Oil Rig, having become something of a recluse in his later years. Joe Capp Born in 2185, Joe Capp’s first job was as an animation assistant on the early Johnny Enclave shorts. This would serve as a career-defining moment, as his practice of solid, reliable work bought him to the attention of Sal Monella. Soon Capp found himself a regular part of the Johnny Enclave production team, progressively working his way up through the ranks with his dedication to getting the job done. While he was neither a particularly innovative nor creative worker, he was consistent, which proved to be his most saleable trait. By 2233, Capp was the lead animator and an assistant director, having worked on every short produced since he joined the studio. Following Sal Monella’s death that year, Capp was promoted to head up the series. However, Capp proved to be a rather different manager to Monella. Under his management, the series took a nose-dive in overall quality, due to Capp’s workman-like approach which emphasised consistency and keeping to a schedule over creativity. Not only did the quality and detail of the animation decrease, but the writing became ever-increasingly dry and the pacing laboured. This resulted in the series’ cancellation in 2241. Capp survived the destruction of the Enclave’s Oil Rig. He went to ground in the NCR, but after hearing about their purges of former Enclave members, he fled into the Mojave. He spent his later years living in a pre-war bunker, only venturing out to trade for supplies. Explorers found his bunker in 2280; Capp’s mummified body was inside, having apparently been dead for some time. They also found scripts for several feature-length animated movies that he had worked on over the years. Category:Enclave